Toluca recovered the goal at the right moment this Saturday and for the second consecutive tournament advanced to the Mexican soccer final by barely beating Monterrey 3-2, in the second leg of their Apertura 2025 semifinal.
The overall score of the tie was tied 3-3, but Toluca led by Argentine Antonio Mohamed advanced due to its best position in the regular phase, of which it was the leader.
Spanish coach Domènec Torrent’s Monterrey entered the league as sixth in the table.
The Rayados del Monterrey came into this match with a 1-0 lead, and soon encountered a threat: a long typo with the legend “90 minutes in hell is an eternity.”
The Red Devils of Toluca came into this game with 205 official minutes without scoring – plus three compensations – and came out with great intensity for the goal they needed to equal the overall score.
The Toluca drought ended after 224 minutes. At 19, from the left sector, the Brazilian Helio Nunes “Helinho” sent a cross into the small area and there the Uruguayan defender Federico Pereira appeared opportune to connect a shot from point-blank range and make it 1-0.
The 2-0 was created from a pass that the Argentine midfielder Nicolás Castro filtered into the Monterrey area between two central defenders – the Spanish Sergio Ramos and the Colombian Stefan Medina -, the ball was served to the Portuguese Paulo Dias “Paulinho” who defined with a fine touch of his left foot in front of the goalkeeper.
Helinho was in charge of making it 3-0 at 51 from a penalty.
The reaction of the Rayados began when Sergio Ramos scored 3-1 in the 58th, also from a penalty, and turning to the attack with a strengthened lead, Monterrey got closer to 3-2 with the goal from Roberto de la Rosa, who finished off a ball that had bounced off the left post from point-blank range, in the 75th.
Mohamed’s Diablos ended up subdued by Torrent’s Rayados, but they resisted to stay standing in the defense of their champion title.
The second semi-final was resolved later at the Universitario stadium where the Tigres, with a 1-1 draw in their favor, received Cruz Azul.
In the event of an overall tie, the cats would advance to the final due to their best position in the table: they were second and Cruz Azul, third.
